An ancient Egyptian cemetery was discovered six kilometers north of Tuna al-Gabal archaeological site in Minya.

Book author Catherynne Valence also tweeted: “They found this black granite sarcophagus in Alexandria and that’s really cool and all but if the movies have taught me anything guys, don’t open that. Just don’t. Leave it alone.”

I say don’t open the cursed sarcophagus

David Milner

Washington Post writer Alexandra Petri also expressed her concerns, tweeting: “I think I’m team ‘Let’s Open The Sarcophagus How Bad Can It Be’ and suddenly I understand the first ten minutes of every disaster movie much better.”

But despite the tongue-in-cheek protests all over the internet, researchers from the Supreme Council of Antiquities decided to open the sarcophagus to get a good look at the mysteries inside.

The archaeologists discovered the well preserved and more importantly dead remains of a mummy rotten down to the bone, without signs of any ancient curse.

The ancient mummy was dug out in the old site of Alexandria City (Image: TWITTER)

Archaeologists will analyse the sarcophagus' contents to crack the mummy mystery (Image: TWITTER)

The black sarcophagus was accidentally unearthed 16 feet underground when clearing out a space for a new building.

The unidentified mummy suffered little decomposition thanks to a sealed layer of mortar between the body and the coffin’s lid.

A discovery of this magnitude is a rarity in Egypt because most mummy burials have suffered decay and destruction over the centuries.

The Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities will now attempt to identify the remains to crack the mystery of the sarcophagus’ occupant.